| "Rosanna" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Single byToto | ||||
| from the albumToto IV | ||||
| B-side | "It's a Feeling" | |||
| Released | ||||
| Recorded | 1981 | |||
| Studio |
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| Genre | ||||
| Length |
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| Label | Columbia | |||
| Songwriter | David Paich | |||
| Producer | Toto | |||
| Toto singles chronology | ||||
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| Music video | ||||
| "Rosanna" onYouTube | ||||
"Rosanna" is a song written byDavid Paich and performed by the Americanrock bandToto, and is the opening track and the first single from their 1982 albumToto IV. This song won theGrammy Award forRecord of the Year at the1983 ceremony. "Rosanna" was also nominated for theSong of the Year award. It is regarded for the half-timeshuffle which drummerJeff Porcaro developed for the song, and for its production, which is generally seen as being one of the best mastered songs of all time.[6][7] The groove has become an important staple of drum repertoire and is commonly known as the "Rosanna shuffle".
The song reached number two on theBillboard Hot 100 for five consecutive weeks, behind "Don't You Want Me" bythe Human League and "Eye of the Tiger" bySurvivor.[8] It was also one of the band's most successful singles in the UK, peaking at No. 12 on theUK Singles Chart and remaining on the chart for eight weeks.[9]
The song was written by David Paich, who has said that the song is based on numerous girls he had known. As a joke, the band members initially played along with the common assumption that the song was based onRosanna Arquette, who was dating Toto keyboard playerSteve Porcaro at the time. Arquette herself played along with the joke, commenting in an interview that the song was about "my showing up at 4 a.m., bringing them juice and beer at their sessions".[10]
In the verses, the key is changed fromG major toF major, accompanied on the original recording by the lead vocalist changing fromSteve Lukather toBobby Kimball.[11]
Thedrum pattern is known as a "half-timeshuffle", and shows "definite jazz influence",[12] featuringghost notes and derived from the combination of thePurdie shuffle,Led Zeppelin drummerJohn Bonham's shuffle on "Fool in the Rain", and theBo Diddley beat. The Purdie shuffle can be prominently heard onSteely Dan's track "Home at Last" fromAja, which Jeff Porcaro cited as an influence.[13][14]
The overlapping keyboard solos in the middle were created by David Paich and Steve Porcaro recording a multitude of keyboard lines (some of which were cut from the final recording) using a Micro-Composer, aMinimoog,Yamaha CS-80s,Prophets, aHammond organ, and a GS1, among other instruments.[11] Paich credits Porcaro with both coming up with the concept for the segment and playing a majority of the parts.[11] The album version starts with the drum beat only then kicks into the rest of the melody, then ends with two renditions of the song's chorus and goes into a musical interlude and fades out from there. According to Lukather, this final instrumental section was a spontaneous jam during the recording session: "... the song was supposed to end but Jeff carried on and Dave started playing the honky-tonk piano and we all just followed on".[11] The single edit goes right into the melody at the beginning, then the song fades out during the first singing of the chorus at the end.
Steve Porcaro and Lukather describe it as "the ultimate Toto track".[15]Cash Box said that it "is a varied palette of pleasing pop shades".[16]Billboard said "The arrangement is more complex than anything Toto's known for, mixing rock power chords with softer passages".[17]
Classic Rock History critic Brian Kachejian rated it as Toto's greatest song, saying that it was "Easily one of the 1980's best singles".[18]
TheWest Side Story-inspired video was directed bySteve Barron and set in a stylized urban streetscape, with Rosanna represented by a dancer whose bright red dress contrasts with the gray surroundings. The band plays within a chain-link fence enclosure.Cynthia Rhodes is featured as the lead dancer Rosanna, which led to her being cast inStaying Alive the following year.[19]Patrick Swayze was also uncredited as a dancer in the music video and he and Rhodes would both star in the movieDirty Dancing.[20]
Despite not playing on the actual recording, new bassistMike Porcaro (brother of Jeff and Steve) appears in the video, as original Toto bass playerDavid Hungate left before the video was made.Lenny Castro is also featured with the band as a percussionist.[21]
Adapted from album'sliner notes.[22]
Toto
Additional musicians
Production
| Chart (1982–1983) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Australia (Kent Music Report)[23] | 16 |
| Austria (Ö3 Austria Top 40)[24] | 11 |
| Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders)[25] | 20 |
| Canada Top Singles (RPM)[26] | 4 |
| Canada Adult Contemporary (RPM)[27] | 7 |
| TROS Europarade | 20 |
| French Singles Chart | 46 |
| Germany (GfK)[28] | 24 |
| Ireland (IRMA)[29] | 11 |
| Italian Singles Chart | 12 |
| Netherlands (Single Top 100)[30] | 6 |
| New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ)[31] | 22 |
| Norway (VG-lista)[32] | 2 |
| South African Singles Chart | 3 |
| Spanish Radio Chart | 31 |
| Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade)[33] | 3 |
| U.K. Singles Chart[34] | 12 |
| USBillboard Hot 100[35] | 2 |
| USAdult Contemporary (Billboard)[36] | 17 |
| USMainstream Rock (Billboard)[37] | 8 |
| Chart (1982) | Rank |
|---|---|
| Australia (Kent Music Report)[38] | 74 |
| Canada Top Singles (RPM)[39] | 27 |
| Dutch Top 40 | 31 |
| Italian Singles Chart | 30 |
| South African Singles Chart | 15 |
| US Top Pop Singles (Billboard)[40] | 14 |
| Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
|---|---|---|
| Australia (ARIA)[41] | Gold | 35,000‡ |
| Canada (Music Canada)[42] | Gold | 50,000^ |
| Denmark (IFPI Danmark)[43] | Gold | 45,000‡ |
| New Zealand (RMNZ)[44] | 2× Platinum | 60,000‡ |
| United Kingdom (BPI)[45] | Gold | 400,000‡ |
| United States (RIAA)[46] | 2× Platinum | 2,000,000‡ |
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone. | ||
| "Rosanna" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Single byWeezer | ||||
| A-side | "Africa" | |||
| Released | May 24, 2018 | |||
| Recorded | 2018 | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 4:52 | |||
| Label | Atlantic | |||
| Producer | Patrick Wilson | |||
| Weezer singles chronology | ||||
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In May 2018, the American rock bandWeezer released a cover of the track as a viral marketing stunt after fans requested that they cover "Africa", another song by Toto.[47] The social media effort, spearheaded by the teenage-run Twitter account @WeezerAfrica, gained significant traction and widespread media attention.[48][49]
Weezer's cover of "Rosanna" was released as a non-album digital single and subsequently included as a B-side on 7-inch vinyl release of the band's cover of "Africa" which they released just a few days after "Rosanna", fulfilling the original viral request.[47][50]
Toto's guitaristSteve Lukather publicly stated he was "flattered" by Weezer's cover.[48] In a reciprocal move, Toto recorded their own cover of the Weezer track "Hash Pipe" and released it in August 2018.[50]
